Living in Peru : your everyday companion

(by Jason Woods)

Public transportation in Lima is ......different.

First, we have walking.

Walking is my favorite form of transportation in Lima and I do it just about every day without fail. The biggest downfall of walking is that, well, if you walk in Lima, you will eventually have to cross the street. And cars drive in the street. I've heard that in Lima, six people are run over and killed every day. Not just run over. Run over and killed. And, after living here for four months, it seems like an Act of God that the number is so low.

Cars don't wait for you to cross the street. Ever. The courteous drivers will honk before stepping on their accelerator. I've actually found myself yelling, "What, you couldn't honk?" after narrowly escaping becoming a hood ornament. I have literally had to lift my arms in the air and contort my body to avoid being hit multiple times... and I probably get a good scare once or twice a week.

Now, these are normal Limeño streets. The expressway here... I wouldn't even think of crossing it. In fact, there are signs in the middle of the expressway saying something to the effect of, "Take care of your life. Don't cross here."

The other thing about walking is that there are other people walking around with you. Being a gringo, this means a whole, whole lot of staring. And that's something that takes more than four months to get used to, if you do get used to that sort of thing. Apparently, greater dangers than this exist, though. For virtually every street I have walked on in Lima, a Limeño has told me, "Be careful, it's very dangerous." I feel like they think they will be personally held responsible if they don't tell me. Hence, I feel like Lima's motto should be, "Lima: Cuidado. Es muy peligroso."

Up until this point, I have only felt like I could have been in danger twice--both times in my neighborhood. The first was just walking down my own street, about two blocks away from my house, at night... there was a group of guys who were just giving me this look... not a look saying, "Hey, that guy looks different," but a look saying, "Hey, shouldn't we be mugging him?"

Interestingly enough, I have had a woman from that part of the street stop me from walking there during the daytime, saying, "You can't walk here... ever. They'll take your backpack." I still don't know who "they" were, as I couldn't see anyone else in the street... but I decided to start taking a different route.

The other time was actually as I was walking home with a couple of American friends of mine, getting ready for the big Shakira concert. Two shady looking guys with hoodies said, in their most threatening, gruff Spanglish, "Tú money! Tú money!" I just looked at them and kept walking. They weren't very good muggers.

Other dangers of walking: avoiding feces or public displays of nudity from guys urinating on the street, timid old ladies aborting their street crossing while you are trying to make a mad dash across, ridiculously large commercial deposits of sand or gravel that block the sidewalk, people trying to sell you things you don't want... especially children, who sometimes latch onto your arm...

But there certainly are pleasures, too... like getting to know everyone on your route home and saying hello to them, or watching street performers or children laughing with their parents... or any form of people-watching, really... or simply just feeling like you have accomplished something because you can navigate the streets in such a crazy city.

So, anyway, that's walking. I do a lot of it here, which is probably why I lost five pounds (which I am trying to gain back at the gym).
next up: taxis

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Well, the thing is people in Lima don’t respect the traffic signals if a car has a green light, who should stop? The car, no the pedestrian has to, but in Lima no one respects that, that’s why cars run people over. If people would respect the traffic signals, they wouldn’t be any accidents.

the problem is there aren't any laws. Here's a situation: you are a pedestrian waiting at an intersection for the green light. Once this happens you think you can start walking using the marked crosswalk. BIG MISTAKE! Left- and right-turning cars don't give a damn about the pedestrians and you may end up in a slalom competition or, even worse, in a hospital or, worst case scenario, you end up dead. In the countries I know, pedestrians have the right of way and left- and right turning vehicles on intersections have to wait or the driver pays a hefty fine if caught. I asked a cab driver today and he said there wasn't a specific law or regulation for that. As usual, common sense should prevail and alertness is highly recommended. Be safe out there.

I have been living here 4 months as well & found your article to be completely histerical and true!!. Even though commuting can be sometimes frustrating it's conforting to know that other people feel the same & that we can also find the beauty in it. I don't get the stared at since I was born here, but I wasn't raised here so when I don't understand some customs or "everyday" things I do get stared at like I'm an Idiot, so don't feel so bad. Enjoy Peru!!

Thanks Raquel! Glad you liked the story. Sounds like you probably have some interesting stories of your own--I'd like to hear them sometime.

I think stating that in Lima or in Peru in general traffic lights serve no purpose and are like invisible and that all or most drivers wont stop at a red light is a total exaggeration, misrepresentation of the truth, also that there's no laws either is absolutely not true!. If the majority of drivers wouldn’t stop at red lights Lima would halt and fall into havoc, chaos and carnage. YES, Traffic is pretty bad, there's a lack of education with most drivers, poor signalling in many parts of the city, bad roads, poor parking facilities, some corrupt cops that like to be bribed ,etc ,etc...so not particularly pleasant driving there or being a pedestrian, but induce mislead and induce fear on readers is negligent at best....if it’s that terrible please tell me how many GRINGOS have been run over, killed or injured in Lima city in the last year or so?...I bet you no more than in London or Los Angeles.

When I drive the Panamericana Highway, I am always amazed as to the number of pedestrians crossing the highway -- DIRECTLY UNDERNEATH THE PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE!!!!!   If that isn't cleansing the gene pool, I don't know what is.